Archive for the 'Ben Maxwell' Tag Under 'Ducks' Category

ANAHEIM -- The Ducks recalled center Nick Bonino from Syracuse of the American Hockey League on Tuesday and returned goalie Jeff Deslauriers back to the Crunch.

Bonino, 23, has been one of the top scorers for Syracuse as he has five goals and a team-leading 15 assists. He spent a few days with the Ducks in early November, playing in one game at Washington before suffering a knee injury.

"We're looking for scoring on the third and fourth lines," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "I think in today's game, you need four lines that can score. Bonino, from what I gathered, when he's been up, he's been on the fourth line and he's an offensive guy. We've got to give him an opportunity to show what he can do."

Boudreau said Bonino won't play tonight at home against the Kings but suggested that he wants to look at him soon. Bonino was at the morning skate after flying in from Halifax, where the Crunch had traveled to on their way to St. John's, Newfoundland for upcoming games.

"Maybe move [Andrew] Cogliano to the wing where he was successful," Boudreau said. "Certainly there's a little bit of movement possibilities going on. It's all day to day and we'll see how it works out. It gives you options and when you have options, it's a good thing."

ANAHEIM -- Some quick Ducks notes from their practice session on a blustery Monday at Honda Center ...

-- Bruce Boudreau signed on to be the Ducks' new coach but the first few days job is also bringing out the psychologist in him.

The Ducks have displayed a terrible ability to respond to any adversity in the majority of their losses and that was again the case Sunday night against Minnesota. They allowed a five-on-three goal to the Wild's Dany Heatley at the very end of the first period and then slept through the second while Minnesota scored twice in a 32-second span to take the lead.

With just three wins in their last 21 games, the Ducks have a fragile psyche and Boudreau is set on trying to change their mindset. The team's struggles have brought out the motivational speaker in him.

"You can't let it get you down," he said. "It's another day. You've got to picture positive things and work through it. If you think of negative things all the time, it's easy for every little thing that gets you down, it's going to get you down quicker. It's going to make life miserable.

ANAHEIM -- Lost among the many issues affecting the struggling Ducks these days is this one -- what has happened to Brandon McMillan?

As a rookie, McMillan proved to be a valuable and versatile performer for a playoff-bound club while also chipping in some offense with 11 goals and 10 assists in 60 games after a short stint in the minor leagues.

But as he heads into a game Wednesday night against the Kings at Staples Center, McMillan is among the many young Ducks forwards that have struggled to find their game. He has no goals, three assists, a minus-6 rating and his ice time is down nearly three minutes on average from a year ago.

With veteran winger Niklas Hagman joining the lineup after his visa issues are cleared up and center Ben Maxwell worked into the mix, McMillan appeared to be put on notice by Ducks coach Randy Carlyle after the morning skate.

Carlyle said he plans to move McMillan from left wing to center and called him "a player that we're trying to find a way to get to a higher level."

ANAHEIM -- Teemu Selanne, the Ducks' oldest player and current leading scorer, has one goal on the power play in the team's first 15 games.

Let that settle in. One of the most prolific players of all time with the man advantage has delivered only once after scoring 16 times on the power play last season and 46 over the last three.

The Ducks' best player thus far isn't the chief reason for a shockingly dreadful power play but his lack of output on it is the most glaring example. They've converted just seven times in 58 chances for a 12.1 percentage that's 26th in the NHL after riding a third-ranked unit into the playoffs last season.

How can that be on a team that throws out a first unit of Selanne, the playmaking Ryan Getzlaf and first-rate finisher Corey Perry along with pure puck movers in Lubomir Visnovsky and Cam Fowler? Should Randy Carlyle consider making personnel changes?

The Ducks claimed center Ben Maxwell off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets, a club spokesman confirmed Thursday.

Maxwell, 23, played in four games with the Jets and did not register a point. A second-round pick of Montreal in 2006, the 6-foot-1, 195-pound forward had a minus-2 rating and saw no more than 8 minutes, 56 seconds of ice time in any of the games he dressed in.

Maxwell has seen limited NHL action in each of the past four seasons, playing in 12 games with Atlanta in 2011-12 and 20 games over the previous two seasons with the Canadiens. The Jets put Maxwell on waivers Wednesday in the hope that he would clear and be sent to their American Hockey League affiliate in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Expected to join the Ducks in time for Friday's home game against Vancouver, Maxwell is signed to a two-way contract for this season and will be paid $715,000 when he's in the NHL and $62,500 in the AHL, according to capgeek.com. [UPDATE: A club spokesman said that Maxwell will need a work visa, which could delay him coming to Anaheim.]

Maxwell has played in 179 games in the AHL with all but two coming with the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Canadiens' minor-league affiliate. He has 49 goals and 94 assists over his four AHL seasons and one goal and one assists in 36 NHL games.